Whether they're pounding and throbbing or dull and aching, headaches are common in kids. Headaches can have a wide range of causes and many levels of severity. It's important to understand how to recognize when a headache is just a passing pain and when it's something more and requires medical attention.

Causes of Headaches

Headaches are thought to be caused by changes in chemicals, nerves, or blood vessels in the area. These changes send pain messages to the brain and bring on a headache.
In general, kids get the same types of headaches as adults. And headaches often are hereditary, so if a parent gets them, their kids might too.
Some of the many potential headache triggers include:

• certain medications (headaches are a potential side effect of some)
• too little sleep or sudden changes in sleep patterns
• skipping meals
• becoming dehydrated
• being under a lot of stress
• having a minor head injury
• using the computer or watching TV for a long time
• vision problems
• menstruation
• experiencing changes in hormone levels
• taking a long trip in a car or bus
• listening to really loud music
• smoking
• smelling strong odors such as perfume, smoke, fumes, or a new car or carpet
• drinking or eating too much caffeine (in soda, coffee, tea, and chocolate)
• consuming certain foods (such as alcohol, cheese, nuts, pizza, chocolate, ice cream, fatty or fried food, lunchmeats, hot dogs, yogurt, aspartame, or anything with the food additive MSG)

In some cases, headaches are caused by certain infections, such as:

• ear infections
• viral infections, like the flu or common cold
• strep throat
• sinus infections
• Lyme disease

Most headaches aren't signs that something more is wrong, but occasionally headaches are caused by more serious medical conditions.

Common Types of Headaches

When kids get more than the occasional headache, two of the more common kinds they get are tension headaches and migraines.

Tension Headaches

Fairly common in kids, tension headaches can be brought on by a variety of emotional and physical stressors. The pain is often described as:

• constant pressure around the front and sides of the head, which can feel like someone stretched a rubber band around it
• constricting
• dull
• aching

A major distinction between tension headaches and migraines is that tension headaches typically are not accompanied by nausea or vomiting, and they're usually not made worse by physical activity — symptoms that do often occur with migraines.

Migraines

Often triggered by things like stress, sleep deprivation, and menstruation, migraine headaches can cause the following symptoms:

• pounding, throbbing pain or dull, steady pain on one or both sides of the head
• dizziness
• stomachaches
• nausea and/or vomiting
• seeing spots or halos
• sensitivity to light, noise, and/or smells

Most migraines last anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. Some can last as long as a couple of days. Some people with migraines:

• just don't feel right. Light, smell, or sound may bother them or make them feel worse. Sometimes, if they try to continue with their usual routine after the migraine starts, they may become nauseated and vomit. Often the pain begins only on one side of the head. Trying to perform physical activities can make the pain worse.

• get auras, a kind of warning that a migraine is on the way (usually about 10 to 30 minutes before the start of a migraine). The auras may only be seen in one eye. Common auras include blurred vision, seeing spots, jagged lines, or flashing lights, or smelling a certain odor.

• experience a migraine premonition hours to days prior to the actual headache. This is slightly different from auras and may cause cravings for different foods, thirst, irritability, or feelings of intense energy.

• have muscle weakness, lose their sense of coordination, or stumble.

Unfortunately, parents of an infant or toddler who are unable to say what hurts may not be able to tell if their little one is having migraines. Young kids with headaches may be cranky, less active, may vomit, or look pale or flushed.

Migraine variants that are thought to happen only to kids and are precursors to the more common migraines of adulthood include paroxysmal vertigo and cyclic vomiting.

Paroxysmal vertigo is described as a sensation of spinning or whirling that comes on suddenly and disappears in a matter of minutes. Kids who experience this may momentarily appear frightened and unsteady, or unable to walk. The vertigo typically goes away by the time a child is 5 years old.

Cyclic vomiting also occurs in young kids and involves repeated episodes of vomiting. The episodes can last for hours or days and are not usually associated with headache. Cyclic vomiting usually goes away by the time kids grow into teens.

How to Help Your Child

Treatment for your child's headaches will depend on what the doctor determines is the likely cause. But most everyday headaches can be cared for at home with little medical intervention.
To help ease your child's pain, have him or her:

• Lie down in a cool, dark, quiet room.
• Put a cool, moist cloth across the forehead or eyes.
• Relax.
• Breathe easily and deeply.

Make sure your child has had something to eat and drink. Kids with migraines may just want to sleep and may feel better when they wake up. A big part of treating migraines is avoiding the triggers that may have caused them. That's where a headache diary can be especially helpful.

You also can give your child an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Read the label, though, to make sure that you give the right dosage at the right intervals. If you have any questions about how much to give, check with the doctor. And if your child is under age 2 or has other medical problems, call your doctor before giving your little one any pain reliever. Your doctor will be able to tell you whether you should give it and, if so, how much (based on weight and age).

Never give aspirin to kids or teens unless specifically directed to by a doctor. Aspirin can cause Reye syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition.

If your child has chronic migraine headaches, the doctor may prescribe a medication to be taken when the headaches come on or daily as a preventive measure. In deciding whether to put your child on medication, the doctor will consider the frequency of the migraines and discuss the potential benefit of the medication versus its possible side effects.

Discuss pain management with your doctor, who will develop a treatment plan that may include approaches that don't involve medicine, such as relaxation, stress reduction techniques, and avoiding possible triggers.
Tracking your child's headaches and their symptoms and following the doctor's recommendations are the keys to finding relief for painful headaches.

KIDSHEALTH.ORG 

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Description
Jaundice, a common condition in newborns, refers to the yellow color of the skin and whites of the eyes that happens when there is too much bilirubin in the blood.

Bilirubin (bill-uh-ROO-bin) is produced by the normal breakdown of red blood cells. Normally, it passes through the liver, which releases it into the intestines as bile (a liquid that helps with digestion).

Jaundice happens when bilirubin builds up faster than a newborn's liver can break it down and pass it from the body. Here are some reasons why:

• Newborns make more bilirubin than adults do since they have more turnover of red blood cells.
• A newborn baby's still-developing liver might not be able to remove enough bilirubin from the blood.
• A baby's intestines absorb bilirubin that would normally leave the body in the stool (poop).

Severe jaundice (when levels of bilirubin are high, usually above 25 mg) that is not treated can cause deafness, cerebral palsy, or other forms of brain damage. In rare cases, jaundice may be a sign of of another condition, such as an infection or a thyroid problem.

Doctors recommend that all infants be checked for jaundice within a few days of birth.

Types

The most common types of jaundice are:
Physiological (normal) jaundice: Most newborns have this mild jaundice because their liver is still maturing. It often appears when a baby 2 to 4 days old and disappears by 1 to 2 weeks of age.

Jaundice of prematurity: This is common in premature babies since their bodies are even less ready to excrete bilirubin effectively. To avoid complications, they'll be treated even when their bilirubin levels are lower than those of full-term babies with normal jaundice.

Breastfeeding jaundice: Jaundice can happen when breastfeeding babies don't get enough breast milk due to difficulty with breastfeeding or because the mother's milk isn't in yet. This is not caused by a problem with the breast milk itself, but by the baby not getting enough of it. If a baby has this type of jaundice, it's important to involve a lactation (breastfeeding) consultant.

Breast milk jaundice: In 1% to 2% of breastfed babies, jaundice is caused by substances in breast milk that can make the bilirubin level rise. These can prevent the excretion of bilirubin through the intestines. It starts after the first 3 to 5 days and slowly improves over 3 to 12 weeks.

Blood group incompatibility (Rh or ABO problems): If a mother and baby have different blood types, the mother's body might produce antibodies that destroy the infant's red blood cells. This creates a sudden buildup of bilirubin in the baby's blood. Incompatibility jaundice can begin as early as the first day of life. Rh problems once caused the most severe form of jaundice, but now can be prevented by giving the mother Rh immune-globulin injections.

Signs & Symptoms

Jaundice usually appears around the second or third day of life. A jaundiced baby's skin usually will appear yellow first on the face, then the chest and stomach, and finally, the legs. It can also make the whites of a baby's eyes look yellow.
Most newborns now go home from the hospital 1 or 2 days after birth, so it's important for their doctors to check them for jaundice 1 to 2 days later.
Parents also should watch their baby for jaundice. Jaundice can be hard to see, especially in babies with dark skin. If you're unsure, gently press the skin on your baby's nose or forehead — if jaundice is present, the skin will appear yellow when you lift your finger.

When to Call the Doctor

Call your doctor know if you think your baby might have jaundice. The doctor might take a small blood sample to measure your baby's bilirubin level. Some offices use a light meter to get an approximate measurement, and then if it's high, take a blood sample.

Also call your doctor immediately if:

• your baby has jaundice during the first 24 hours of life
• the jaundice is spreading or getting darker or more intense
• your baby has a fever over 100°F (37.8°C) rectally
• your baby starts to look or act sick
• your baby is not feeding well
• you feel your baby is sleepier than usual

It is difficult to tell how significant jaundice is just by looking at a baby, so any baby with yellow eyes or skin should be checked by a doctor.

Treatment

Most cases of newborn jaundice don't require treatment. Mild or moderate jaundice will go away after 1 or 2 weeks as the baby's body becomes able to get rid of the excess bilirubin on its own.

More frequent feedings of breast milk or supplementing with formula to help infants pass the bilirubin in their stools also might be recommended. In some cases, the doctor may ask a mother to temporarily stop breastfeeding. If this happens, pump often to keep producing breast milk, then start nursing again once the jaundice has cleared.

For high levels of jaundice, phototherapy — treatment with a special light that helps rid the body of the bilirubin — may be used.

If a baby has severe jaundice that hasn't responded to other treatments, a blood transfusion may be done.

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